


The Door Locked from the Outside

by GlitchyPix



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Carlos is a Dork, Cecil is a Ghost, Cecil is also a dork, IT'S ONLY IMPLIED THAT HE'S DEAD AND HE'S A GHOST EITHER, M/M, THE MAJOR CHARACTER DEATH ISN'T THAT ANGSTY STAY WITH ME FOR A SECOND
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-15
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-10-10 22:04:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17434346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlitchyPix/pseuds/GlitchyPix
Summary: Honestly, Carlos doubted that anyone who worked at the school currently had even seen this room, the only records of the PA radio show were from 1983. Carlos couldn't even match a name to the person who actually hosted the show, there wasn't even a single mention to the host in the files, just broader mentions to the show in general. That part of the investigation was rather disappointing, to say the least. Carlos would’ve at least liked to get the host's name.“It’s Cecil,”~Carlos is your typical science nerd, he's smart, he does his research and he doesn't believe in ghosts. This makes it kind of a problem when the school goes off in a flurry of rumours when the school's abandoned PA system suddenly goes off at random times during the day with nothing but static. Carlos, ever the hero, goes off to find the source of these PA temperments, hoping to disprove these claims that the school is haunted. But what happens when it turns out that the school is haunted? Worse still, what happens when the ghost haunting the school is actually adorable and was apparently murdered by the school in some sort of elaborate murder scheme?Based off of a prompt from Tumblr Blog writing-prompt-s





	1. Night 1 - The Radio Ghost

**Author's Note:**

> So yes, this story was based on a writing prompt on writing-prompt-s. Here's the prompt in question.
> 
> 'Rumor has it that your school is haunted by a student around your age. While you stay after school to catch up on a subject you hear a whisper in your ear. You freeze up expecting to hear whispers of pain and anguish, instead you hear the answer’s to your homework'
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> ~
> 
> June 3rd

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're curious, the prompt this story was based on is here.
> 
> Rumour has it that your school is haunted by a student around your age. While you stay after school to catch up on a subject you hear a whisper in your ear. You freeze up expecting to hear whispers of pain and anguish, instead you hear the answer’s to your homework

Carlos never expected to meet a ghost, let alone befriend and fall in love with one. He’s always been a man of science, ghosts hadn’t been something he’d really ever believed in at any point of his life until now and so he usually dispelled the rumours around the school that the school was haunted by a former student who died within its walls. Mind you, Carlos didn’t instantly dismiss it just because the prospect of a ghost was considerably inane. Well, ok, that was part of it but also the rumour itself just made no sense. There are no records that the school ever experienced a death upon its property and the only alternative explanation for the rumours would be the idea that the school was built upon a former burial ground which it wasn’t. There’s nothing to suggest that the school was haunted.  
  
It was kinda hard to explain why the school’s PA systems would just suddenly turn on for no reason though.  
  
That was the whole basis around this rumour, by the way, the fact that the school’s PA system seemed to be turning on at random during that day before turning off again about twenty to twenty-five minutes later was the entire reason the student body was convinced the school was haunted. It was silent when it happened, no one would talk at all within that time but there would be noticeable white noise that proved that it was on. That was the weird thing, Carlos couldn’t exactly explain that without coming up with baseless theories. The most plausible theory he could think of was that a glitch with the PA system would turn it on occasion but that doesn’t explain why it would always turn off after such a specific amount of time, it’s too precise to just be a faulty system. Carlos would rather stick his own head down the toilet before openly admitting that he didn’t know the answer though, he has a reputation to uphold. Well, ok, he was the school nerd but still, people did turn to him for explanations and he likes the fact that he was the knowledgeable student who everyone turned to for advice, he’d rather not sabotage that. He needed to figure out what was happening, he was still getting questions and he didn’t want his reputation to be tarnished for leading an elaborate hoax just because of his pride.  
  
So, against all of Carlos’s training on being a gold-star student, he snuck into the school in the middle of the night.  
  
Carlos didn’t know what to expect when he broke into the school at 2 AM but some security was something he’d at least anticipated seeing. Apparently, that was too high of an expectation for the school since the school grounds seemed completely barren. There were cameras all around but they were easy enough to avoid being caught on (because face it, just turning them off would just look suspicious and Carlos didn’t want to do anything that could possibly alert anyone to his presence in the school that night) and the only thing the school used for security otherwise seemed to just be the eerie atmosphere of an empty school at night time which Carlos ignored because eerie atmospheres don’t mean anything when there’s nothing there.  
Well, he thought there was nothing there at least.  
  
Carlos made his way to the PA system, avoiding any security cameras that he could see and praying to God that there aren’t any security systems inside the room though he didn’t see why there would be. For whatever reason, the PA system had its own little room on the second floor of the school. According to Carlos’s research he’d done while the rumours were getting around about the kid who died in the school, he actually found out that, when the room first went into use in 1983, the PA system wasn't used for short announcement, there was an entire school news show that played over it tha went over school events, announcements and other things you'd usually expect from a school news show. It wasn't exactly the most impressive thing but it was a thing apparently. Either way, to accommodate for this, the school placed the PA in its own room and, after the news show was discontinued (it had apparently both started and ended in 1983 within about a week), they locked it up. Luckily, Carlos was a scientist or was one in the making anyway, and a scientist is always prepared. Using a couple of bobby pins and a lock-picking guide he’d looked up at home, Carlos managed to open the lock on the door and get in.  
  
The room was dark and flicking the light switch didn’t do anything which indicated that the light bulb was missing. The room also didn’t have any windows or literally anything that could produce any kind of light source which, in that case, what the actual fuck? They literally had someone in this room doing what was essentially a radio show, why the fuck is the room nearly pitch black with darkness? Did they wanna blind the poor bastard? Carlos sighed and concluded that he should focus on one mystery at a time. He grabbed the flashlight out of a bag that he put a bunch of bunch of equipment into and stepped into the room.  
  
The was when the door shut suddenly behind him.  
  
Now, Carlos wasn’t a superstitious man (or much of a man at all really, he was still only eighteen after all), he didn’t believe in ghosts whatsoever and the idea that one had just shut the door to a room he was in was plainly ludicrous. However, Carlos was not naive either there was no way the door could’ve just slammed shut on its own and it just turned June, there’s no kind of breeze in any form and, even if there was, the school’s windows and doors were all shut. Wind can’t just phase through walls so it couldn’t have been wind that shut the door but then, what was it? That was a question wished he could distract himself with but he had a set goal he needed to focus on and he’d be damned if he managed to completely forget his original task while distracted...again. That was something he needed to work on so this is how he’s gonna work on it, by not investigating what caused the door to suddenly shut and get back to dispelling rumours with reasoning.  
  
Turning the flashlight on, Carlos looked around the room. It was rather ordinary in appearance, nothing immediately off-putting or strange unless you paid a bit of attention. For example, there weren’t any bugs in here which seemed odd, an abandoned room usually housed a lot of dead insects that would’ve made it into the room from the gap below the door and then gotten stuck because they didn’t have a window to escape from but not this abandoned room, it was rather clean actually. It was actually too clean, there wasn’t a single speck of dust in the room which made little sense. Sure, you could suggest the staff could clean the room but why would they and how? The only reason the PA goes off for nearly half an hour before shutting itself off again with zero interruption is because there was only one key to the place and the only person who knew about it was a previous principal who never instructed its location. Honestly, Carlos doubted that anyone who worked at the school currently had even seen this room, the only records of the PA radio show were from 1983. Carlos couldn't even match a name to the person who actually hosted the show, there wasn't even a single mention to the host in the files, just broader mentions to the show in general. That part of the investigation was rather disappointing, to say the least. Carlos would’ve at least liked to get the host's name.  
  
“It’s Cecil,”  
  
Carlos nearly jumped a foot into the air at the sound of a sonorous voice coming from behind him. Turning around, he’d expected to see an open door with a security guard with a flashlight and a scowl who’d be ready to report and expel him. Instead, Carlos turned to see the door still closed and nothing between him and said door. Confused, Carlos pondered the likelihood that he was having auditory hallucinations and briefly wondered if it might’ve had something to do with lack of oxygen from the door being shut and there being no windows. Reaching towards the door, Carlos stopped midway as he felt something akin to a breeze fill the room. Now Carlos was slightly tense, that wasn’t any kind of normal. His mind flittered back to the voice, the voice that had answered a question he’d queried in his head, and let his mind, for a single millisecond, believe that it might’ve been a ghost. He then rationalised that ghosts don’t exist and that there were perfectly viable explanations to why he’d heard the voice and where the sudden breeze came from.  
  
“Well, that’s kind of a narrow-minded way of looking at things,”  
  
Carlos remained perfectly relaxed when hearing the hallucination this time, reminding himself that he’d not drank a proper amount of water before making his way to the school and that his mind may have also been lagging from sleep deprivation considering the fact it was, checking his wristwatch, around 2:30 AM at this point. Carlos took a deep breath and then let it go before making his way towards the microphone that stood on the desk near the front wall. The room vaguely resembled a radio station now that Carlos looked at it, noticing a soundboard with dials and sliders that he knew nothing about and dare not touch just yet. Reaching into his bag again, he pulled out a screwdriver and took hold of the microphone that connected to the PA system.  
  
“What are you doing to my microphone?!”  
  
Now, Carlos was a reasonable person. He believed in anything that had clear, conclusive evidence to back it up and was able to be explained without conflicting evidence possibly disproving the existing evidence. This was why Carlos didn’t believe in ghosts, any evidence of these paranormal beings could be explained away with science relatively quickly as any possible readings picked up by paranormal investigators were from flawed tools that created faulty results. However, his perspective would certainly flip if a ghost, say, appeared in front of him and grabbed something from his hands. That is exactly what happened after the sonorous voice appeared once again. A translucent humanoid being with silver hair, violet eyes hidden behind purple-lensed spectacles and weird markings over their skin had quickly dashed at Carlos, grabbed the microphone and then pulled back in a defensive manner, revealing themself to be floating. Also, they seemed to be glowing a shade of purple, lighting up the room around them. Carlos honestly thought he’d blacked out but any chance of the experience possibly being an elaborate dream was washed away when the silver-haired being batted at Carlos with their arm. Carlos could legitimately feel the rather cat-like gesture and the registry of that nearly caused him to hyperventilate from sheer mind-fuckery. There was no way this should be real but it was, this being had hit him like some sort of pissy cat and had been telling him things if that voice was indeed theirs. Carlos also noted the apparition appeared to be a boy around Carlos’s own age but he wasn’t about to definitively say that the figure was indeed male, Carlos was kinda reluctant to assume the gender of a translucent, silver-haired being that showed the capability of enforcing physical damage to him (sure, they bat him on the arm like a cat but that still shows that they can physically interact with matter and they could also probably take Carlos in a fight like most people could).  
  
“I thought I mentioned my name was Cecil before but I guess someone wasn’t listening,”  
  
Carlos had the sudden urge to tell the apparition that he’s met a girl named Sebastian and a boy named Cheryl, that the name Cecil wasn't exactly the peak of masculine names and that names don't really have a gender but figured he’d leave that and focus on the more relevant discover, that this apparition was sassy and named Cecil. He’s also a guy. This was shaping up to be a great encounter for Carlos so far, he’s pissed off an unidentifiable-  
  
“I’m a ghost. Also, you didn’t really piss me off more than you did invade my space. Not that I’m complaining, there are certainly worse people who could’ve barged in here honestly,”  
  
-Ok, Cecil likes to interrupt people while they thinking too, great. Would Cecil like to announce anything else then if he’s going to be commenting on every little thought in Carlos’s head?  
  
“You’re kinda snippy, you know that? Do you need coffee or are you always like this?”  
  
Carlos probably did need coffee but it wasn’t like he was gonna get any here. He sighed, placing his head in his hands and contemplating everything he’d witnessed in the past five minutes. Currently, he had a headache, he’d met a ghost and a snarky, mind-reading one who seemed to like making useless comments towards others thoughts and now he just wanted to go home. This was all a little too much to process and he felt like he needed to sleep a bit before trying to tackle something like this. That or get coffee. Maybe both.  
  
“Does that mean you’re leaving then?”  
  
Cecil sounded a little disappointed at the prospect that Carlos was leaving. Focusing in on the room, Carlos looked towards the ghost and was met with a look that could only be described as the human (ghost?) equivalent of puppy-dog eyes. Carlos felt a wave of guilt just by looking at Cecil’s sad face and thought over leaving so soon, he could stay for a bit. Plus, he still had to make some bullshit up to tell his classmates when the morning came because there was no way he was telling them that the PA room really was haunted by a ghost. Speaking of which.  
  
“Were you the one turning the PA on?” Carlos asked after a long time of communicating through thought. Carlos was expecting a simple yes/no answer, what he got was a mesmerised Cecil. What the fuck, why is the ghost gawking as if a drop of liquid gold had just flowed through his ear? Carlos didn’t have that nice of a voice, most people described it as perfectly dorky considering how Carlos was but, other than that, the biggest compliment he got was that it was kinda cute and that was a compliment from a drunk sophomore at a house party (a house party Carlos had been dragged to by the by). Needless to say, the amount of salt Carlos took it with was enough to kill at least fifty people. Point was, his voice wasn’t nearly as amazing as to cause Cecil to have a stroke or whatever the hell was happening to him. Hell, if you wanted to get into nice voices, Cecil’s voice was far more appealing to Carlos’s voice. It was deep and melodic and honey-like. It was quite pleasant to listen to, much more mesmerising than Carlos’s own voice.  
  
“Wait, you think my voice sounds nice?”  
  
Damn ghost and his mind-reading abilities. Carlos focused in on Cecil to see that the seemingly friendly apparition was grinning like he’d been told he could be resurrected. The actual smile was endearing, almost adorable in a way (which is a thought Carlos did not want to distract himself with at this time, he was making a discovery here). Carlos tried focusing on anything but Cecil's physical presence in the room with him and his mind wandered to how long Cecil had been in here. His outfit consisted of a purple sweater vest and white button-up shirt while his glasses were violet lensed and round-framed in a similar style to John Lennon's glasses. The style seemed 70s-ish which was definitely weird. Weren't the school news announcements done within 1983? Was there potentially a second missing  
  
“Not to kill your flow but maybe you shouldn't think too deeply about things like this,”  
  
“What do you mean?”  
  
“I mean, for one, I died in 1983 so I don't think there's some second missing person but, also, the last person who tried explaining someone going missing got locked in a pitch black room, got told to do PA announcements in a radio show format with the hope that maybe actually doing it would maybe grant him freedom, died of something, he's not sure what exactly, and is now living out the rest of his afterlife wondering why this happened or who did this and if anybody in any of his classes- in the school remembers him and is maybe looking for him,”  
  
Cecil was sitting on the desk, arms crossed with a sombre yet bitter expression. Carlos almost wanted to call the expression angry or sad but it wasn't really either, it was too downcast to be anger but too resentful to be sad. Cecil also looked like he was about to burst into tears but also not at the same time, like he wanted to cry but he couldn't form the tears. Whether that was due to the fact that Cecil, being a ghost, didn't actually have tear ducts or maybe something else, Carlos didn't know. However, from Cecil's speech, he'd at least learnt a bit about the ghost in question. Cecil, who is definitively the host from the news show in 1983, had been forced into doing the show by someone or something and he's been in here ever since. He died in here of something, what exactly killed him being unknown but Carlos is willing to bet that it was either dehydration or oxygen deprivation due to the fact that whoever locked Cecil in the PA room clearly never let him out or gave him food or water. Whatever wanted him to do these announcements also clearly wanted him dead if that was any indication.  
  
Another thing to note, no one questioned anything after Cecil went missing which was really weird. This wasn't even a case of Carlos making assumptions either, Carlos had never found a missing person report when doing his research, much less one for a Cecil. Not that the school never had students named Cecil, there were at least a few in fact. However, going by timeline alone, this Cecil would have to be Cecil Gershwin Palmer who, indeed, was mentioned in quite a few old newsletters that Carlos found. Cecil Palmer was the head editor for these school newsletter until the winter newsletter where the head editor was credited as Leann Hart with no mentions of Cecil anywhere which was a surprise due to the fact the last head editor to leave before Cecil had a send-off in his last newsletter, something Cecil didn't get. Of course, that seemed slightly off but, considering the fact that looking up anything crime related to the school came up with nothing, looking up Cecil Gershwin Palmer yielded nothing but results of a radio host with the same name (an ironic coincidence) and looking up a hybrid of the two 'Cecil Gershwin Palmer missing person' came up with reports delivered by the same radio host about missing people, Carlos had to chalk it up to an accident on the school's part at the time. But now, considering that there was a student from the same timeframe who, if he could just please just confirm that Carlos has got the right Cecil since he can read minds- "Oh! Yeah, you've got the right Cecil,"- Carlos now had to question why there wasn't any kind of missing person report. Sure, there's the school but surely Cecil's household would be concerned about him and his well-being.  
  
“My family, um. They’re, uh, well here's the thing, um- you know, I’m really curious about you actually. I mean, I don’t even know your name or why you’re here but you seem smart and all that so tell me a bit about yourself. Also, could you maybe actually talk? I mean, I can read your thoughts just fine but I’d rather hear you talk with that voice of yours. Your voice is really nice by the way, as much as you might not think it is. It's like caramel to the ears,”  
  
“If it'll get you to talk then sure, I guess? My name’s Carlos Moreno and I’m here because the PA system has been going off for what appeared to be no reason. I’ll be honest here, I was trying to dispute the idea going around that a ghost was turning on the PA but if you’re the one turning the PA on during the day…” Carlos trailed off from his sentence and looked towards Cecil who, with a dazed look in his eye and a rather soft yet loving smile on the face that was on a head that was being propped up by two arms that had been resting in the ghost’s cross-legged lap, seemed almost enamoured with Carlos’s voice. Not that Carlos wasn’t flattered but this was not going to be the second time the ghost completely avoided that question. “Are you listening to me?”  
  
“Yep, your name is Carlos Moreno- I love your name, by the way, it's a very scientific name- and you’re asking me if I’m the one who’s turning the PA on,”  
  
“...And are you?”  
  
“Yep,”  
  
“Ok, why are you turning it on then? Why for twenty to twenty-five minutes each time too?”  
  
Cecil shrugged. Carlos was almost certain the ghost did know why he was turning the PA on but that he was just in a kind of trance (which was weird as fuck by the way Cecil). He ignored the fact that he was the one who’d managed to put the ghost into a trance himself and tried to think of a way to get the ghost to snap out of it. Then he remembered that Cecil apparently couldn’t hear Carlos’s voice when reading his thoughts (which was something Carlos was also going to have to investigate later).  
"If you don't actually answer my question then I'm not talking anymore, it'll just be my thoughts from here on out," Carlos almost laughed as he saw Cecil's serene expression completely drop at the mention of not hearing his voice anymore, the switch was almost cartoonish with how expressive it was.  
  
"Ok, no need for drastic measures-" Drastic measures? "-Yes, drastic measures! I'll tell you why I keep turning on the PA, just don't stop talking!"  
  
"Alright then, why do you keep turning on the PA at random and why for an allotted amount of time?" Carlos took a seat in the office chair that was just by the desk that Cecil was sitting on which reminded Carlos that Cecil had been here for thirty-five years, wasn't sitting on hard surfaces like these constantly discomforting? Whatever.  
  
"Well, I only recently thought of this but, I was hoping that maybe people would hear me through the PA and so I tried doing the PA announcements I used to do, mainly because it would at least entertain me for a while if nothing else. I almost thought it worked when you came in but you weren't looking for the source of a voice when you came in here, you were looking for why the PA was apparently turning on at random and playing white noise,"  
  
Carlos tried ignoring the unfortunate fact that Cecil was really so bored that doing the PA announcements was something he was doing to try and find entertainment value because that's sad and Carlos already wanted to pull the poor guy into a hug and tell him 'it'll be alright, don't worry' enough as it is. He also tried to ignore the fact that this was an obvious plea for some kind of friendship because Carlos is supposed to be a scientist and scientists don't cry damn it.  
  
"If it makes you feel any better, I would love for you to give me a hug, you seem like you'd be a good hugger...I'm not making this awkward, am I?"  
  
"No, I just want to hug you more, to be honest. Do you want a hug?"  
  
Cecil's response was to practically tackle Carlos to the floor but hey, when you've been deprived of basic human company for thirty-five years, you take whatever you can get with extreme vigour and Carlos was not about to get on Cecil's case for that. Carlos didn't really know what to expect when hugging a ghost but it probably wasn't the feeling of holding stardust in physical form. Ok, that's really poetic and vague as hell like most poetic things are but Cecil honestly felt like some kind of combination between glitter and dust that had taken a physical shape and was wound around him and it felt nice. Cecil was a good hugger and his hugs felt nice, it was a long hug but it was a nice hug and Carlos felt happy to reciprocate.  
  
"I'm sorry, I just- it's been a long time. I never realised it's been thirty-five years though, what year is it?"  
  
"It's 2018,"  
  
"Is...Is it nicer out there?"  
  
Carlos almost asked what Cecil meant until he actually thought a lot about how Cecil acted. He knew exactly what Cecil meant. Of course, Carlos can't actually assume anything (though, Cecil gawking at his voice was definitely not the straightest thing to do) but Cecil would've been a teenager doing this stuff in the early 80s, most people definitely would've been making assumptions. Carlos was rather conflicted on how to answer, the world was certainly nicer but that didn't exactly mean much when the 80s had the AIDs crisis. Most things were nicer than that. Cecil pulled back from the hug, rather reluctantly, and settled back onto the desk. He seemed pensive like he was evaluating something.  
  
"You know, I never really considered that actually. I just thought that I wasn't interested in romance and that those feelings I got when I saw a good-looking guy was respect,"  
  
…Really?  
  
"Well, yeah, I thought that maybe I just held a lot of respect for guys who could keep up an appearance. I mean, that's what I thought of you when I saw you,"  
  
"Ok, well, how do you explain the voice thing or was that just me?"  
  
"That's just you. You know, if we're going into what's good about you, your hair is absolutely perfect and your jaw-"  
  
"Ok, let's not get into anything about me," Carlos didn't want to get sidetracked too far from the objective and he was not about to let the honey-voiced ghost start waxing poetic about his hair. Yeah, that was why he didn't want Cecil to go on, that and definitely not because he didn't want Cecil to realise how red-faced he got when boys complimented his hair.  
  
"I'm pretty sure we got sidetracked after the hug but alright,"  
  
Carlos chose to focus on what he needed to do next instead of the fact that he forgot Cecil could till read what he was thinking. He focused and realised that he got all he really needed to get when it came to why he was here. He found out why the PA kept being turned on, he actually proved the rumours right by meeting a friendly yet tragic ghost who was turning on the PA as a cry for help and that's all he came here for. If he didn't find Cecil, he would've been looking into why the PA was turning on but he did find Cecil so there's no point. Carlos looked at his watch, noticing it was 4 AM and figured it was probably time to go home. He was going to need sleep if he wanted to function tomorrow after all.  
  
“Does that mean you’re leaving then?”  
  
Carlos looked at Cecil only to see the same puppy-dogged face Cecil he saw when Cecil first thought he was leaving. Carlos felt awful, he'd managed to strike a friendship with a really nice ghost who's been on his own for thirty-five years. Carlos almost reconsidered but he needed to go home, he needed sleep. Cecil looked a little less puppy-doggish and more just sad at that thought; Carlos didn't want to leave the purple ghost on that note.  
  
Carlos looked down at his watch. It was a silver-chain watch, analogue and rather expensive. His parents had gotten it for him as a fourteenth birthday gift one year and he hasn't taken it off since. Carlos held his gaze towards the watch, staring at it like a lifelong friend, before taking it off and handing it to Cecil.  
Cecil was reluctant to take it, to say the least.  
  
"It's your watch,"  
  
"I can always buy another,"  
  
"Wasn't it a birthday gift?"  
  
"I think my parents would be happy to learn that it's going to good use,"  
  
"But you like that watch, I'm not sure to what extent but I can tell that you have some sort of attachment to it,"  
  
That was true, Carlos had absolutely adored that watch and he had been very thankful to his parents when they bought it for him. He hadn't taken it off since he'd gotten it those four years ago, it was almost like it was attached to his body. His parents had been glad he'd liked it so much and it remained the only thing Carlos used to tell time even after he'd gotten his phone.  
However.  
  
"I think your need to have something to tell time with is a bit more important than me liking my watch,"  
  
Cecil looked at him like he was about to cry from sheer happiness. He gently took the watch from Carlos, letting him maybe reconsider (he didn't) before taking it. He placed it behind him, beside his microphone before looking back at Carlos and legitimately tackling him into another hug. Carlos briefly considered how much of a miracle it was for that the PA room was apparently big enough for Cecil to tackle him onto the floor without accidentally hitting something but that thought was quickly put aside when he focused on the very happy, very clingy ghost that was currently nuzzling into his chest. Carlos would've been slightly averse to this kind of attention if it wasn't Cecil who, on top of being rather tragic, was also just a really good hugger. Carlos hugged back. Eventually, Carlos had to let Cecil go, stand up and grab his bag.  
  
"Will you come back?" Cecil asked in an almost cautious tone.  
  
"Nightly," Carlos replied.  
  
Cecil looked like had wanted to object but, any argument he had on his tongue had died when Carlos had tossed him the flashlight he'd brought with him. Cecil tilted his head, much like a puppy at him and Carlos almost wanted to tell him what the flashlight was for but, taking out his phone (though not before he checked his bare wrist out of sheer habit), it was almost 5 AM. Carlos gave Cecil a quick squeeze of a hug before rushing out of the PA room and out the back of the school, away from its car park and away from any potential staff members who may have arrived early. Cecil, back up in the PA room, looked at the open door and slowly moved towards it. Carefully, he reached his arm out towards the sapphire blue skies of the early June morning that peered through the windows.  


The door slammed shut.

* * *

  
That morning, as Carlos tiredly staggered to his locker, he noticed a red envelope taped to it. Opening the envelope, Carlos took out a slip of paper with a message written in some sort of blue-purple substance. The message was simply a date and time.

  
  
Carlos checked the note over again before placing it back in the envelope and putting both in his bag.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, want a playlist for this dumb thing? https://8tracks.com/glitchy-pix/the-door-locked-from-the-outside


	2. Night 2 - Death Date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> June 4th

The next night, Carlos had arrived at the school at 12 AM, giving him a bit more time with Cecil. While he was still being stealthy, Carlos was generally rushing to get to the PA room and Cecil in turn, a little excited to tell his phantom friend about something he'd found. He generally managed to reach the PA room without being seen by the cameras but it was by no means a perfect job. After picking the lock on the door once again, Carlos playfully knocked on the door. Surprisingly, the door seemed to open by itself under the force of his knock and Carlos became a little hesitant to actually peak in. Not that this stopped him as Carlos peaked his head into the room to find it as empty and desolate as it seemed when he'd first seen it. Carlos became slightly worried, where was Cecil? Did he manage to get out? Was he gone? Had Carlos unwittingly helped the school exterminate a ghost? These thoughts pooled and settled in Carlos's stomach as he walked into the room.   
  
"Cecil? You there?"   
  
No response.   
  
"Hello? Cecil?"   
  
Still no response.   
  
"This isn't funny Cecil, I'm kinda getting worried here,"   
  
Nothing.   
  
"Cecil?"   
  
"Boo!"   
  
From behind him, Carlos felt two arms wrap around him as a familiar voice filled his ears. Carlos, surprisingly, wasn't actually scared by this. In fact, he actually laughed as the two arms wrapping around him became visible and a purple glow filled the room. Reaching back, Carlos turned his 'attacker' around to his front and chuckled as he saw the pouting face of a very friendly and completely non-scary ghost.   
  
Cecil really needed to work on his jumpscares.   
  
"Oh come on! That was totally scary!"   
  
"No one who wants to be considered scary says boo when trying to scare their victim,"   
  
"Maybe you're just no fun,"   
  
"I'm plenty fun, you're just a bad ghost,"   
  
Cecil stuck his tongue out at that and Carlos had to laugh at the childishness of it all. He was arguing with a ghost about how scary said ghost was, what even is this? Most scientist, when meeting a ghost, would investigate the things afterlife did in relation to physics, chemistry and biology and here Carlos was with this sore-loser ghost, laughing at the absurdness of how bad he is at scaring people. Eventually, he saw Cecil crack a smile himself and the ghost pulled Carlos into an actual hug.   
  
"You have to admit, you were scared at first. You thought I was missing,"   
  
"Fine, I'll concede that you not immediately being visible did scare me a bit,"   
  
"I win!"   
  
"Alright, don't let it get to your head,"   
  
Cecil was very smug about the fact that he'd managed to scare Carlos somehow, so smug that he didn't consider the implications behind that scare. That was a good thing, Carlos didn't really want Cecil to question their relationship because Carlos was realising that he probably didn't have the straightest of thoughts when thinking of Cecil. Wait, Cecil can read tho-   
  
"What do you mean you don't have the straightest of thoughts when thinking about me?"   
  
"We'll discuss this later,"   
  
"But-"   
  
"Later, Cecil,"   
  
“Fine,”   
  
It was nice to see Cecil smiling considering how he was just the night before. Cecil had a beautiful smile, it was just cute enough to be endearing but awkward enough to be definitively human. Cecil wasn't a perfect smiler, he had a tooth gap and his grin wasn't quite normal and his smile was maybe a bit too wide but it was sweet, a genuine smile from a ghost who's only reason to smile was because he was being visited by a weird, logically inclined, ghost-sceptic scientist who had to re-evaluate a lot of his work because of the existence of this one ghost. Carlos made a mental note to be constantly aware of how much power he had over Cecil's emotions.   
  
"So, what've you been doing since last night?" Cecil asked with a puppy-like tilt to his head.   
  
"Actually, I was looking you up to see if there were any records of your online other than the ones I found. I did a short Google search before but one of the teachers here gave me an account that could log into the school website and access the database so that I could help the school clean up some of its records from 2005. I didn't think to use it before since that's an invasion of privacy but, considering the situation, I think I have a justifiable reason to invade such privacy," Carlos opened his bag, pulling out a folder of printed sheets. They were records, details of Cecil and his class and amongst other things.   
  
"Not to discredit your work, dear Carlos, but why did you do this?" Cecil glanced over the multiple sheets that held much of his private information.   
  
"'Dear Carlos'?"   
  
"It's a term of endear- not the point, don't dodge the question,"   
  
"I wanted to see if there was anyone who might have known you, friends or family. I never checked your files, I wanted to ask permission before I did that but simple Google searches haven't exactly yielded any definite results. Not surprising though, you died in 1983 when you were eighteen. I wasn't exactly expecting to find people on FaceBook easily,"   
  
"Face-what now?"   
  
"Nothing. Anyhow, I was trying to find out why there wasn't anyone looking for you. There aren't any missing person reports on you despite the fact you've been dead for thirty-five years. If this were any normal case, your disappearance would've been noticed by your family, you would've been found pretty quickly. What on Earth did the school manage to do that you disappearing completely slipped by your family?" Carlos was honestly baffled on how a missing high school student had managed to remain a secret for thirty-five years without a single person noticing. Cecil had an older sister who was taking care of him around the time of his death but when looking up information on an Abigail Palmer, nothing about a missing younger brother or anything like that was mentioned. How did this happen?   
  
"If they want it enough, the school staff can make anything happen."   
  
Cecil looked rather sombre when saying that and Carlos couldn't help but feel guilty. Carlos couldn't just call off the investigation though, Cecil had been missing for thirty-five years but no one seems to have noticed. That's thirty-five years Cecil's been away from his family and friends, thirty-five years they've been without him with no explanation of where he went and yet no one's noticed a thing. Cecil's name hasn't appeared once as a missing person and that worries Carlos because, besides the fact that an innocent person had been stolen away from his family, that means it can happen again.   
  
"Carlos, I hope you realise that this could happen to you too," Cecil's face was serious yet worried. He raised a good point, Carlos could possibly be the staff's next target. Maybe Carlos would just have to be careful?   
  
"They know everything. You'll probably start getting warnings for doing this, I did. I got three warnings before they locked me in here,"   
  
"Warnings?"   
  
"Uh-huh, they're really cryptic. I think my first one was a note stating the exact time and date of my death. Mind you I only found what it was after I'd died and, even then, I'm only estimating that's what it meant. Either way, my first warning was a piece of paper with a time and a date that might or might not be the exact moment of my death,"   
  
Carlos's heart dropped as he remembered the red envelope, the date in bluish-purple. June 6th was two days away. His hands trembled and his breath hitched as he considered the concept of his own death. His legs turned to jelly as he collapsed to them and started hyperventilating. He was going to die in two days, he didn't want to die in two days! He wanted to be a successful scientist, to study and research and experiment! He wanted to discover something new, maybe not something overly important to the world but something! He didn't want to die, not yet!   
  
Carlos felt himself tense up as a hand rested on his shoulder. He gazed up to see a very concerned Cecil staring at him. Cecil started rubbing circles into the shoulder he was holding onto before placing another hand on Carlos's other shoulder and doing the same. After a minute, Carlos pulled Cecil into a hug, desperate for some sort of affection or comfort or anything. What would happen once he died, would he end up like Ceci? Would he just cease to exist altogether? Carlos was scared, he was so so scared. Cecil was doing as much as he could by hugging Carlos back and rubbing his back but it didn't lessen the dread that had settled itself into Carlos's chest.   
  
"I'm so sorry Carlos,"   
  
Carlos buried his head into Cecil's shoulder.   
  
It took the better part of an hour for Carlos's breathing to stabilize enough for him to start talking again but that didn't mean he'd stopped being scared. Plus, on top of that, he was also crying now. Cecil had been very patient, holding Carlos has he'd broken down into a sobbing mess of anxiety and existential dread. After Carlos had finally settled down, Cecil spoke.   
  
"I'm so sorry Carlos, this is all my fault," Cecil looked like he wanted to cry. Carlos briefly wondered if Cecil could actually cry but he quickly pushed that thought away.   
  
"Cecil, this isn't your fault,"   
  
"But it is! I was the one who kept turning on the PA and that's why you came in here! Now you're going to die and it's all my fault!"   
  
Carlos's question was answered anyways as he saw a stream of glowing, white tears fall from Cecil's face as he sobbed. Carlos was still reeling from learning that he was going to die in two days but he was at least able to comfort Cecil, albeit, in a way he probably wouldn't have gone with if he could think straight for five minutes. Carlos reached a hand to grip Cecil's cheeks as he used a thumb to wipe away the stream of tears flowing from Cecil's eyes. It took a second for Carlos to realise how seemingly intimate he was being. He pulled back, looking away from Cecil with a nervous laugh and a mutter of an apology on his lips. Carlos really felt conflicted on how he felt about Cecil. On one hand, he's dead. On another hand, he's adorable. These are the difficult conflicts Carlos has to face when he's not being threatened with death.   
  
Actually, dying would make dating Cecil a lot less weird so maybe- Ok, maybe now is not the time.   
  
"Maybe we should change the subject? I'm technically possessing the mic on the desk," Cecil revealed.   
  
"...What?" Carlos couldn't sound more deadpan if he tried.   
  
"It's true! I do it so I can actually have a physical form which is why I don't like when people touch it! That's also why I can't leave the room, I'm kind of attached to it, literally,"   
  
Of all the reasons Cecil was protective of that mic, him possessing it probably made the most sense and Carlos had to wonder why he hadn't thought of it earlier. Cecil was a ghost, ghosts are known for possessing things, why did Carlos not come to that obvious conclusion?   
  
"You didn't even believe in ghosts before you first saw me which, may I remind you, was when I was grabbing my mic away from you,"   
  
"Oh yeah. You also batted my arm away like some weird cat,"   
  
"Cats can be adorable, I'm taking that as a compliment,"   
  
"You do that,"   
  
Carlos had to admit, he felt better than he did before. He still felt like he was covered in a blanket of anxiety and existential fear but he wasn't drowning in it anymore. Cecil seemed glad about that, he wasn't crying about how he'd somehow caused all of this (and Carlos wanted to hammer in the point that he didn't). It was at that point he remembered he actually had a gift for Cecil, he had three of them actually. He went to dig them out as the luminous ghost watched him scavenge around in his bag. Eventually, Carlos pulled out an old pillow and duvet of his that he had when he was, like, five. There was still a cover on it, faded but clearly a bedsheet with the periodic elements Carbon, Argon, Lithium and Osmium. It was supposed to spell out Carlos's name with the ‘i’ in Lithium just being really tiny. Carlos also pulled out a glass globe-like object that he plugged into one of the unused plug sockets the lay by the wall. Cecil seemed very curious, floating over the object and observing it. After setting it up, Carlos pressed a button of the front of the globe and the room lit up.   
  
The inescapable darkness suddenly brightened up in a blue swirl of space as the globe projected a backdrop of stars, moons and glitter. Cecil gazed at the ceiling in amazement as Carlos pushed another button and the globe began to turn, swaying the stars with it as they twirled along the walls of the abandoned PA room, dancing to a non-existent song that only they could hear. Or, at least, that's what Carlos thought of them when his parents first bought him the globe when he was about six-years-old. He hoped Cecil saw the same thing or, at least, something similar.   
  
Cecil apparently saw much more.   
  
The lilac-glowing ghost was mesmerised as he watched the projector turn the stars around the room. Carlos almost had to wonder if they had these kinds of projector things in the 80s, he couldn't quite remember if they did. Eventually, Carlos did the boldest thing he could as he inched closer to Cecil and gently placed a hand on the other's knee. Cecil seemed to briefly snap out of his hypnosis, looking at Carlos for a brief second before placing his head on his shoulder and looking back up at the projected stars.   
  
Carlos wished he could do this forever.

* * *

  
The next day, Carlos hesitantly checked his locker. What would he find? A bloodied picture depicting his death? A telling him his cause of death? A stupid note from a stupid bully saying that this was all a stupid prank? Opening his locker, Carlos was met with a figurine of Cecil holding a music box

  
  
  
Cranking the music box, [a short, sombre melody echoed from inside the wooden box.](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fuP3ToXTP7IQKIPNLbL1smMaRfVXGIhO/view?usp=sharing) The simple melody sent Carlos into shivers, seemingly inexplicably. After listening to the haunting tune, Carlos took both the figurine and the music box before heading to class.


	3. Night 3 - Wisp-Like Kisses

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> June 5th

The next night, Carlos was much less cautious as he headed to the PA room, not so much avoiding security as he was strolling through the halls to get to the PA room. Currently, Carlos was just trying to dig up evidence that the school killed a student. Most of what he got was just stuff Cecil already knew or that Carlos had already shown him. Really, Carlos was just coming in to see Cecil. He didn't want to ask questions or find anything out, he just wanted to spend time with the ghost.   
  
Coming up to the PA room, Carlos knocked to find that the PA room was still just as opened as it had been the day before. Cecil wasn't hiding this time, in fact, he was just lying in the middle of floor with the star projector on. Carlos couldn't deny how adorable Cecil looked bundled up in the duvet as he stared up at the projector; he had to wonder if Cecil actually turned it off at all.   
  
Speaking of Cecil, the ghost himself had turned to face Carlos while still bundled up in the blankets. He was smiling and seemingly trying to motion Carlos over beside him (well, at least, that's what Carlos thought he was doing. Cecil had his arm hidden under the blanket but it was clearly moving considering the bulges that were forming under said blanket). Carlos sat down only to immediately have the blanket draped over him as Cecil sat up and dragged him into the soft pile he had made of himself. Under the duvet with Cecil, Carlos could vaguely feel the ghost's arm brushed against his while a spectral hand was laid subtly brushing pinkies with his. Carlos smiled before laying his hand on top of Cecil's and curling his fingers around it. Cecil was smiling as he lay his head on Carlos's shoulder again. Carlos had to admit, the feeling of Cecil's head on his shoulder was nice in a bit of an odd way. Cecil himself felt somewhat like glitter but, somehow, not. It was hard to explain but it was pleasant and Carlos loved it. He loved Cecil.   
  
Wait-   
  
"Carlos…"   
  
That pleasant feeling had left him as Cecil moved to look at him. Shockingly, Cecil seemed elated with a grin on his face and- were those tears in his eyes? Carlos was on the cusp of saying that he wasn't thinking straight (well, obviously) but, Cecil looked so happy and Carlos had to take a second to think about what he said. Did he really love Cecil after only knowing him for about three days- two really if you actually thought about it? No, that isn't possible. He certainly couldn't deny his romantic inclination towards Cecil though. He could love Cecil. He could, his inclination genuinely could turn into love. Plus, Carlos was gonna die tomorrow anyways so what was he really risking by admitting his emotions about the purple, glowing ghost.   
  
Oh right, he completely forgot he might die tomorrow.   
  
"Carlos, do we really have to discuss your mortality at the moment?"   
  
Cecil seemed bubbly and bouncy as he stared at Carlos, almost as if he was expecting something. Carlos almost blanked on what Cecil wanted before he actually thought about it for a second. Did Cecil want him to kiss him? Carlos wasn't exactly averse to the idea but, to be fair, he also had no clue how to kiss. Despite the fact that he was a 'surprisingly good-looking nerd' (as said by a lot of girls in his classes, it was weird and uncomfortable that he heard that so often actually-), Carlos was still a socially inept nerd (and gay) so he hadn't really had much romantic experience. He hasn't kissed anyone yet, that was just a really long way to explain that he hasn't kissed anyone yet.   
  
Yet.   
  
"If it helps you out, I've never kissed anyone else either," Cecil helpfully added. Carlos didn't feel quite so nervous but he still wasn't sure how to do this and Cecil wasn't really helping. He was just staring at him now so he was clearly expected Carlos to instigate the whole thing, the adorable bastard.   
  
"Oh come on, you must've seen romantic movies. You just lean in and...you know," Cecil looked away with a blush like an anime highschool girl. It was adorable but God was the contrast between Cecil's voice and personality jarring.   
  
"Well, if you're so sure how to do this, how about you try instigating this, Mr. Smarty-Ghost," Mr. Smarty-Ghost. Not your best one, Carlos.   
  
"Yeah, that was kind of lame,"   
  
"Shush you,"   
  
Cecil chuckled in response. Carlos quickly realised the ghost wasn't going to try shit and attempted to pluck up his courage and knowledge of movies to try maybe kissing Cecil without seeming totally inept.   
  
"Carlos, I'm not sure if you've forgotten but I haven't had my first kiss either. I'm still waiting on it, actually,"   
  
"Bear with me here, Cec, I don't know what I'm doing,'   
  
"If you're gonna call me Cec, I'm calling you Carl...actually, on second thoughts, absolutely not,"   
  
Carlos started blanking on Cecil as he tried focusing on actually kissing him instead of arguing. Staring at his faded and tinted-purple lips, Carlos tried imagining what kissing would be like which isn't something he's thought in a while actually. He thinks about what he wanted his first kiss to be like when he actually used to think of things like that. He then realises he can't remember what those fantasies were like (what was he, fourteen when he last thought about his first kiss and how he wanted it to go?) and so he really does have to think about how he wants his kiss to be now. Thanks shoddy memory, your unreliability is very helpful.   
  
Carlos focuses on Cecil, his figure. He focused on his soft-looking, white hair and his tinted-purple skin, how soft he looked in general. He focused on his cheeks, his nose, his eyes behind the pair of purple-lensed John Lennon glasses. He focused on his voice, how smooth it was and how low it was for someone so excitable and bubbly. Finally, his eyes settled his lips which, while they didn't look full and luscious, they looked about as soft as the rest of Cecil. They weren't perfect lips, Cecil wasn't the most good-looking guy Carlos has ever seen but Cecil was soft and Carlos liked that softness.   
  
That was when he leaned forward.   
  
Carlos wasn't disappointed when there weren't any fireworks, he wasn't disappointed that he couldn't feel his heart soar as the kiss pressed on, he wasn't disappointed that he couldn't feel a spark in his soul as he felt everything come together as all his problems washed away. Because they didn't, Carlos was still going to die in tomorrow and he was still kinda worried about that. But that doesn't mean that he didn't feel incredibly warm as Cecil held onto him while they kissed, it wasn't like he felt nothing as this intimate moment took place. His heartbeat was rapid and fluttering and Carlos couldn't tell if it was love or anxiety but he also didn't really care either. His lips were against Cecil while both of their arms were wound around each other. Carlos could ignore his problems of a bit, he could let himself let it go.   
  
Cecil was very snuggly after they'd stopped (which took a while since Cecil was very persistent about continuing, following Carlos's lips every time they left his). It was adorable and Carlos was glad to indulge the spectre. They were lying in the duvet now, Cecil curling in on Carlos and laying his head on the future-scientists chest. Carlos made a great pillow apparently as Carlos found he couldn't actually move the comfy ghost. Carlos vaguely remembered calling Cecil a pissy cat one point and he'd argue that Cecil is definitely still a cat, even if he's less pissy than he was back then.   
  
"I was never pissy,"   
  
"You batted at my arm when we first met, you weirdo,"   
  
"Don't bully your boyfriend, you weirdo,"   
  
Were they boyfriends? You know what, sure, why the fuck not. Carlos didn't care about repercussions anymore, not now. Cecil was in his arms, they were snuggled on a duvet and watching a star projector thingy. He was content to just lie here and sleep the night away, Cecil in his arms and the school none the wiser.   
  
He couldn't do that though.   
  
He wished he could ignore his situation, he wished he could just keep visiting Cecil with no consequence, he wished he didn't have to worry about the school staff killing him. Carlos wanted so much for him and Cecil to just have these moments with no worries. But they couldn't, Carlos was going to die tomorrow and he had no idea if he was going to be with Cecil when he did and what if he wasn't?! What if he died in some lonely room, far away from Cecil and alone. Carlos was scared, he was absolutely terrified and he couldn't just ignore his problems.   
  
"There there,"   
  
Carlos hadn't realised he was crying until he felt two wispy hands wiping away damp tears. Cecil nuzzled his face (which Carlos later realised he did because he himself was currently trapping the ghost between his arms and his chest in some desperate, anxious hug. Luckily, Cecil did manage to pull Carlos into a sitting position so Cecil wasn't just weirdly trapped on top of him) before kissing him on the nose and petting his hair in some small attempt to calm him. It wasn't much but it was enough for Carlos to stop hyperventilating (something he also hadn't realised he was doing until after he'd stopped) and his grip on Cecil eventually loosened.   
  
"I'm sorry for suddenly freaking out like that,"   
  
"I mean, you're going to die in tomorrow, I'm pretty sure I would've been pretty scared if I had known I was gonna die before I was trapped in the PA room. Instead, I've had to deal with sporadic existential crises by myself. It's not nice, let me tell you that,"   
  
Carlos shifted his hand through Cecil's hair in a comforting gesture, the both of them have been through way too much. Pulling Cecil down towards the duvet, Carlos chose to focus on the star projector and not his impending death, for once thinking of his emotions rather than the logic of the situation. Cecil positioned himself under Carlos's chin and watched the projector with him.   
  
If tomorrow, June 6th, was the day of his death, he was going to spend all that day looking for evidence that Cecil Gershwin Palmer was murdered by the staff of Night Vale High School.

* * *

 

The next day, Carlos almost completely skipped his locker, not wanting to be deterred by the cryptic shit he may find in there. He opted to skip looking at it in the morning but, by lunchtime, Carlos just couldn't resist the prospect of what he might find by checking his locker. So he opened it up. There was the typical envelope with death date on it but, beside it, was a scratchy drawing of a stick figure bashing its head on the corner of what seemed to be a table? Carlos gulped but, beside the crude drawing, he saw a little note folded up and addressed to him. Before reading the note, Carlos noted how a photograph had fluttered from the fold. It was a photo of Cecil when he was alive with his arm wrapped around the shoulder of another boy with red hair, freckles and braces. Carlos then turned his attention to the note.

  
  
  
Carlos dashed off to meet the note's sender.


	4. Night 4 - Together Indefinitely

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~June 6th~

That night, Carlos didn't even try to avoid the cameras, he just booked it towards Cecil's room in a flurry of excitement. In his bag were pages of pages of photocopied evidence he had to show Cecil alongside a phone charger and a string of fairy lights. He had a lot of things he wanted to show Cecil and as soon as possible. As soon as he got to the PA room, he barged in without a single warning and a large bang where the door slammed against the wall. Poor Cecil (who was fiddling with the flashlight Carlos got him. And, by fiddling, I mean he was flicking it on and off with a sad face. He had tried making shadow puppets at one point but apparently ghosts don't have shadows) looked like he was about to have a heart attack from the suddenness of the slam. Carlos was quick to pull Cecil into a squeeze of adoration and excitement which turned his expression change into something that could only be described as mostly confused, partially dizzy.   
  
"Carlos, not that I don't love your visits but why?"   
  
"You're not going to believe what I managed to find out about the school!"   
  
Cecil's surprised face quickly dropped into one of slight disappointment. Still mostly confused though. "Really? Last day alive and you spend it looking for info on me? Not that I'm really upset or anything but there's so much else you could've done other than gathering evidence you're never going to get to use for anything. It's technically June 6th now, you could die at any moment,"   
  
"Look, I get that you're concerned but this is important. What if the school does this to another student?"   
  
"What if the school does this to you?"   
  
"Then so be it, being a ghost doesn't seem so bad and, if I die in here, I'll be with you,"   
  
"Damn it, that's really sweet of you, stop that! Don't let yourself die because of me you wonderful person! You've just done days worth of research for nothing!"   
  
Carlos smirked. "Actually, I and another source who I have chosen to stay anonymous have gathered some files and sent them to police to maybe imply that a local high school's staff murdered one of its students,"   
  
"You didn't,"   
  
"I did,"   
  
"Carlos," Cecil was somewhere between horrified and thankful in a clear display of emotional confusion. He settled to rectify this confusion by practically knocking Carlos over in a hug. Cecil has a surprising amount of mass for a being that can float and supposedly isn't supposed to be solid. Carlos was happy to return the hug, however.   
  
"You think it'll be like those movies where the ghost who was murdered goes onto the afterlife after justice has been delivered to his murder?"   
  
Carlos considered it for a minute but frowned. What if justice actually did grant Cecil a way into an afterlife where Carlos couldn't follow? The thought stung, he felt tears start to well up in his eyes (how many nights in a row has he cried now? This would be the third?). He did want Cecil to leave after they'd just started dating, he wanted Cecil to stay. Carlos was going to die today, right? What if he died but, because the police only investigated Cecil's murder, Carlos never got the same justice as Cecil did? What if he was left alone as a ghost while Cecil finally got to live a happy afterlife?   
  
Cecil snuggled up beside him, lightly nuzzling Carlos's shoulder in comfort. Luckily he wasn't wiping away tears this time and Carlos definitely considered that an improvement but he still felt bad about making Cecil comfort him for the third night in a row. Cecil snuggled up to him more, clearly trying to silently convey the idea that he was completely fine in his comfort role. Carlos was tired of the sombre mood, he wanted to lighten things up again and so he guided his thoughts into a drastically more melodramatic tone. He was very entertained when his melodramatically thoughts about how sad life is and woe is he caused Cecil to give him a deadpan stare before he floated over to his flashlight.   
  
"Why am I attracted to you?" Cecil flickered his flashlight against the wall and tried aimlessly to make shadow puppets with no shadows.   
  
"I don't know, something about me being the only face you've seen for thirty-five years? Maybe the caramel voice, definitely the hair, I think maybe the eyes too?" Carlos lifted a finger to the underside of his chin in a faux thinking expression.   
  
"I don't talk about your hair enough, I should talk about it more. Your hair is perfect,"   
  
"If you're going to gush then I get to say your voice is beautiful,"   
  
"No, your voice is beautiful!"   
  
"Just accept the compliment, you phantom dork!"   
  
Sometime during this complemental back and forth, the two had managed to find themselves in each other's arms and back on the duvet. They sat there for a long time, Carlos couldn't exactly tell how long but, considering how his phone had stated that it was 5:53 AM after a long time of them just sitting together like this, Carlos figured it was an hour. He also figured that he would need to leave soon. He didn't want to but he was going to have to. He felt Cecil cling onto him tighter.   
  
"Cecil, I need to go now,"   
  
"Why?"   
  
"Because I have to go to school in a few hours and I want some sleep,"   
  
"You can sleep here,'   
  
"My parents would be worried if I slept here. Cecil, I promise that I'll come back tomorrow,"   
  
"But you're supposed to die. What if you die out there and I never get to see you again?"   
  
Cecil was saying all of this quietly, in a mumble and a soft voice. It wasn't surprising to Carlos when he felt his shoulder dampen as Cecil buried his face there. Brushing his fingers through Cecil's wispy hair, Carlos couldn't really comment. Wasn't he worried about this just earlier, the prospect that he'd die in some secluded room by himself and with Cecil still trapped in his PA room. Carlos became hesitant to leave as he felt Cecil shake in a cry. Maybe he should stay, he could text his parents that there was an emergency with a friend later and he'd get more time with Cecil.   
  
Carlos mulled it over for a second before shaking the prospect away completely. His parents would be worried sick if they woke up to find him missing, he needed to go home now. He'd see Cecil again during the day to make it up to him but he needed to leave. Cecil's shaking came to a halt and, eventually, he let go of Carlos, letting him reach the door.   
  
"Promise you'll come back?"   
  
"Later today, I promise,"   
  
"Ok. I love you,"   
  
"Love you too, Cecil,'   
  
Carlos made his way towards the door, silently looking back towards Cecil, before lifting his hand towards the nob.   
  
Click.   
  
Carlos stared at the door in a moment of horror before trying the handle, begging that he heard the sound incorrectly. He had to have misheard, there was no way-. The handle wouldn't turn all the way, there wasn't the sound of a click as the metal keeping the door closed retracted. He kept trying, the same motion, again and again, begging for the door to simply be jammed and that a good tug would loosen it up but nothing ever gave. The handle wouldn't budge, the bit of metal wouldn't shift.   
  
The door was locked from the outside.   
  
Coming to this realisation, Carlos backed away from the door and tried taking a deep breath. This is fine, he has a phone, he can call his parents or the police or anyone who could possibly help. Cecil took this opportunity to remind Carlos that he was there too by wrapping his arms around his waist. That's right, Cecil's here too. He's been here, in this room, for thirty-five years in fact- Actually, don't think about that. Carlos took a deep breath in, keeping his mind solely on Cecil's arms, before breathing out and continuing to do so until he wasn't panicking anymore.   
  
"You alright?" Cecil had positioned himself in front of Carlos as the other took out his phone and went to call his parents, specifically his mother.   
  
"Hello?" a lightly accented voice spoke through the speakers.   
  
"Oh, thank goodness you picked up. Mama, I got locked inside a room in the-"   
  
"Who is this?"   
  
Carlos fell silent for a second before stuttering out an answer.   
  
"It's me, Carlos? Your son?"   
  
"I never had a son named Carlos,"   
  
What the fuck? What the fuck? Carlos would admit, his mother could be a little forgetful (which was understandable, Carlos was the eldest of five with the youngest two being seven-year-old twins) but she wasn't ever this forgetful. What the fuck was going on?   
  
"What do you mean you never had a son named Carlos? Mama, this isn't funny,"   
  
Cecil, who was still in front of him, had seemingly caught on to what was going on. With a sympathetic look, he quickly took Carlos's phone off of him and (with a bit of fiddling because Cecil had no clue how a smartphone worked) ended the call. Carlos looked at him in a mixture of confusion and anger.   
  
"What was that for?!"   
  
"She doesn't remember you,"   
  
"I know that but maybe it was just a momentary thing, give me my phone back," Carlos reached out to grab the phone from Cecil but the spectre was very determined to keep up this game of keep away. Doesn't help that he could float while Carlos couldn't but, then again, this room wasn't exactly large, Carlos could reach the ceiling if he stretched a bit. Eventually, the game of keep-away became a tug-of-war between the human and the ghost.   
  
"No, Carlos, I don't think it's just a momentary lapse, I think it's something else!"   
  
"What do you mean something el-"   
  
It hit him. The reason no one came after Cecil, the reason the police hadn't gone looking for him. The school had essentially made everyone forget about him. Even if Carlos had found Cecil's family, asking them about him was a futile effort, they wouldn't recognise him. Now the same was happening with Carlos. The wannabe scientist glances at Cecil before seeing the photocopied evidence of his murdered on the desk behind him.   
  
The police. Carlos grabbed his phone from Cecil's hands and dialled for 911.   
  
"911, what's your emergency?"   
  
"The school staff at my school have locked me inside a room,"   
  
"Excuse me?"   
  
"Please, you have to believe me!"   
  
"I'm sorry sir, I can't understand y-"   
  
The call cut off.   
  
Carlos stared at his phone for a second before putting it down, taking a deep breath and breathing out. Cecil settled in front of him before Carlos brought him in for a hug. No tears, no panic, Carlos was finally numb. He didn't have any hope for the situation to be salvaged and...he was ok with that. He was with Cecil and, really, he'd rather die here than anywhere else.   
  
"I'm sorry Carlos, this is all my fault,"   
  
"No it isn't, it's the school staffs. For now, though, I'm exhausted. You still up for me sleeping here?"   
  
"I mean, you don't really have a choice really,"   
  
If you told Carlos a week ago that he'd be locked inside a room, laughing about his death with a ghost who was also his boyfriend, quite frankly, he would've laughed at you. Then he probably would've apologised for being so rude but his point would still stand, you sound crazy. Now look at him. Carlos settled down on the duvet with Cecil beside him. He took a final glance at that ghostly figure, his silver hair and violet eyes and his skin tinted in the same shade of lilac as his glow before drifting to sleep and letting his eyes close.

* * *

 

Rumour has it around the school that the place is haunted by ghosts. The PR goes off at random during the day with no explanation and, if you get close enough to the room, you can hear what sounds like two men talking and laughing despite the fact that the room has been locked tight for decades (“I wouldn’t say it’s been shut tightly,” “It’s called dramatic storytelling Carlos,”). Many sceptics have tried to explain why these things happen, why it can't be ghosts but none have ever gotten any proof.   
  
It's advised that you don't lock pick the room, rumour has it that the last guy to try that was never seen again (“How do you know about what rumours are going around the school now, you died thirty-five years ago,” “Storytelling magic,”). However, even if you don't follow the word of baseless rumours, trying to pick the lock and enter the room is still a dangerous venture. Sometimes rumours just so happen to be true and that horror story you heard around the halls ends up sneaking up on you when you least expect it.   
  
The ghosts are the last thing you should be afraid of.


End file.
